On Mon, 30 Dec 1996, grady wrote:

> oh yeah: YOu Raymond Brake fans better do a better job of explaining
> just how the fuck you can justify calling "Piles of Dirty Winters"
> "probably the best thing ever released on Simple Machines." Keep in mind
> that this statement places it above both Scrawl's amazing "Velvet
> Hammer" and Franklin Bruno's "Bedroom Community." I know *you* believe
> it's true--but how to convert a nonbeliever?

i have never said this because i have only heard pieces of velvet hammer
and haven't heard bedroom community (again, feel free to break out the
memorex II XL's to assist me in my never ending quest for musical
knowledge). however, i would call piles of dirty winters one of my
favorite albums of all time. no, really.

funny that you mention the raymond brake.
yesterday i went running on the beach in ocean city, nj (haha, no i didn't
have to jump over any hypodermic needles).  it had rained all day long but
around sunset the sky cleared up and the sun was this brilliant bright
orange color that spilled all over the sand and the water.  i was amazed
how beautiful it was so i was distracted from my run and just walked along
the edge of the water.  i had piles of dirty winters in my walkman.  i
stood on the vast stretch of beach and looked at the ridiculously
sharp green seaweed contrast with the yellow dune grass that glowed orange
with the light of the setting sun.  then i stared out into the ocean.
it's grey blue color matched perfectly with the dark horizon as the sun
set behind me.  _shooting in the dark_ came on and i thought about my
little 9 year old cousin,katie, who's cancer ridden aunt died in a car
accident."she promised me she wouldn't die" katie told me.  
_funeral bride_ melted into _laying down_ and i had to sit.  it was
getting darker, but i couldn't leave, especially not with the album right
in the middle and the sun still finishing its painting. the story had to
be finished. _funeral bride_ and _laying down_ made me feel, even smell 
the cold that
came off the water as the sun sunk lower.  i felt unsettled, like i had
just moved far away and didn't like my new home.  
_dolley madison_(my favorite) made me stand up.  i can't sit still during
this song, so i watched the last of the sun crawl around to the other side
of the earth and i walked up the beach and back to my car.  _slink moss_
accentuated the
"i-think-i-was-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-saw-that-sunset" feeling
and then _never felt better_ came on and i started laughing because it has
that goofy intro that makes me think of an old tv sitcom theme song. then
in the middle, when andy (or is it ryan) is yelling, it kind of makes me
think of that beatles song where john is screaming about how "paul wasn't
the walrus!  i was the walrus!" and "all this fucking shit" and eventually
ends up screaming and running out of the room (if anyone knows the title
to this please let me know, i don't think it's listed anywhere).
in the end, _whistler_ and _visit to bedlam_ accompany me back to my
grandparent's house and i drive by it because i want to be alone for a
little bit longer.  _visit to bedlam_ takes all the slightly used RB
guitar riffs and finishes out the album.  i turn the car
around to go back and that silly little recording of peder talking to that
annoying woman comes on and all the feelings that screwed with me
throughout are
gone and i pop the tape out and hootie and the blowfish blare out at me
from the radio. i push the tape back in and hit rewind.

so, ross, that's why i like the raymond brake and piles of dirty winters.
sometimes it makes me want to cry, sometimes it makes me nauseus, it makes
me sing and it makes me laugh.  i also find joel's drumming superb (yes, i
said superb) and i think it's cool that when andy sings you can sometimes
hear his spit flying. no kidding!  unfortunately, their tightness doesn't
really come through on stage (although i have heard stories that 2 years
ago they were excellent live) and that's how i like to hear bands best.
the new EP? well, it's not as good as podw, but i like it. i'm not a big
fan of EPs anyway, they always leave me wanting more. 5 or 6 songs just
seem incomplete.

with all this talk of how chapel hill is "just not the same," i just want
to say that i am really glad to be back.  i was in new jersey for only a
week, but that's long enough when you have to stay with your bickering
grandparents and hyper little cousins.  they are all insane and i was
stuck there without anything to do except argue with my grandfather about
racial issues (he won't even go in a checkout line if a person of a
different race is working the cash register) and his addiction to
magazines such as Star and the Enquierer.  the only thing we have in
common is the squirrel nut zippers.  it was weird when we made this
connection.  i gave him a tape of HOT for xmas and he LOVED it. he loved
it so much that when we went to visit some other family members he brought
the tape inside and tried to make everyone listen to it.  they weren't
interested and he got all frustrated.  i felt his pain.

so, as i drove
south on I-85, i smiled when i saw "chapel hill 22".
i smiled even more when wxyc came in range.  i know it might sound silly,
but i was tired of hearing my cousins play their new cds, joan osborne and
sheryl crow all week at the house and in the car.  ugh.  at least they
liked bjork.

jenn

    jenno@email.unc.edu
      http://sunsite.unc.edu/5e       
          "It is unfortunate that many dismiss sounds as poor and
               unlistenable due only to their unfamiliarity."--?